Woman lies upside down for three months to avoid miscarriage
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In a unique medical case, a 29-year- old British woman, who had suffered repeated miscarriages, has given birth to a baby girl after reportedly lying upside down on a hospital bed for nearly three months.
Donna Kelly suffered from a weak cervix and was warned by doctors at five months into the pregnancy that she was at high risk of losing another baby.
She agreed to spend 24 hours a day on a hospital bed which was tilted skywards to lift her feet above her head and reduce pressure on her cervix.
Under the supervision of Prof Siobhan Quenby, an expert on recurrent miscarriages, she ate, read and watched TV in the position, only leaving her bed to go to the toilet, for three months before giving birth to Amelia, six weeks prematurely by caesarean The Daily Telegraph reported.
The baby, weighing some five pounds, spent two weeks in an incubator in intensive care before being allowed home.
Prof Quenby, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, said: "Donna's condition is rare, second trimester miscarriages only occur in about 0.5 per cent of women, and while the treatment may sound strange, it is very effective.
"We are currently undertaking research at University Hospital to replace this with something more pleasant for the patient which doesn't rely on them staying in hospital."
Donna and her husband Mark, 32, an engineer, are now looking forward to their first Christmas together as a family.
"Mark and I had a calendar and we'd cross off each day - the way I saw it, one day more in bed hopefully meant one day less in special care for the baby if she arrived too prematurely," she said.
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